2021-04-29 Mindfulness

“The goal of mindfulness is to wake up to the inner workings of our mental, emotional, and physical process”

Mindfulness is an active process, not passive. It’s about waking up, not going to sleep. It’s also supposed to be hard. I mean, truly understanding how you function mentally, emotionally, and physically? Just focusing on one of those things can be tough.

Sitting down for a few minutes each day to notice how your thoughts wander isn’t a bad thing, it’s just the first step on a long journey.

The next steps require deep thinking, and as Henry Ford said:

“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it”

How to not let it waste your time:

I’ll let the legendary C.S Lewis do the talking here. This quote comes from him writing about the life of a Christian, but it’s applicable to mindfulness:

“It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. The first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day”

What it really comes down to is the ability to be self-aware even as the day gets busy.

Self-awareness requires silence and space in your brain. A practical step to do this is to ignore your phone as much as possible. In those moments where you have nothing to occupy yourself with, you choose to either occupy it with other people’s thoughts or with your own thoughts.

Choose your own more than others.

As Lewis pointed out, those first steps in your morning routine set the bar for the rest of the day. Notice what it takes to get a firm hold on your thoughts, and let it guide those moments of possible silence as the day passes.